Seven-year-old Lucy Gibson can barely contain her excitement when she learns that the funfair has come to town and Matt, her mother's new boyfriend, has agreed to take her. Despite her slight uneasiness in Matt's company and her upset over her parent's split, she readily goes off with him one evening, as excited as only a young innocent child can be. The next morning, Chief Superintendent Lambert briefs DS Bert Hook and DS Ruth David on the disappearance of a young seven-year-old local girl from a funfair the previous evening. On questioning her distraught mother, it appears that Lucy has vanished into thin air and so begins an intense investigation, racing against time, to discover who took the young girl - and to prevent more children from going missing before it's to late.....
A slightly stolid British police procedural, the character development is the saving grace of this book, making it a fun read. One quickly comes to identify with both Hook and Lambert, and with many of the less savory individuals in the story, as well. J.M. Gregson has managed to create characters that reader can immediately connect to particularly appreciated that both men went home to modest homes with normal families and normal hobbies... no drinking to insensibility whilst directing Wagner, no illicit assignations with co-workers. That was refreshing!
This is a terrific book that provides a very well constructed mystery, investigated by a character who provides consistent entertainment. It's part of a series of books featuring Chief Superintendent John Lambert and Detective Sergeant Bert Hook the chemistry and the friendship between them is a big part of why I enjoyed this book.
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